morning... kevin: now at noon, snow, sleet, and freezing rain this morning. the latest totals and the changes that come in time for the evening commute, ahead. >> just another day. this is new england. sean: taking the first snow of the season in stride. it proved to be a messy and slow morning commute. further north, it was more snow than ice. the conditions drivers faced heading to the lakes region, where the bigger snow totals are coming in this noon. >> no one covers new hampshire like we do. now, wmur news 9 at noon. [captioning performed by the national captioning institute, which is responsible for its caption content and accuracy. visit ncicap.org]

sean: we are on storm watch this afternoon. after weeks of unseasonably warm temperatures, winter has arrived in new hampshire. a layer of snow and ice blanketed the granite state this morning. it got messy out there. good afternoon. i' m sean mcdonald. our crews are across the state right now tracking the conditions near you. but first we want to check in with meteorologist kevin skarupa with what we can expect for the rest of the afternoon. kevin: a much lighter version into the afternoon, but still some accumulation for some areas out of this. you can see anywhere between five and seven inches of snow in central parts of the state, away from where we have been mixing, with quite a bit of sleep come anywhere from south of the lakes region all the way down to the seacoast from where we have had freezing rain greater the winter storm warning remains in effect for the northern three counties.

you notice the heaviest portion of all the precipitation we have been going through this morning, continuing to lighten up for the afternoon. north of the white mountains, continuing to expect an additional 1-4 inches of the commission for the remainder of the afternoon. places like pittsburgh and colebrook are the areas that stand to see that. temperatures well below the freezing mark and not expected to make much headway through the afternoon anything that falls can continue to re-freeze across the region. in southern areas of the state we have been going back-and-forth and forth between snow and quite a bit of sleep. one of the areas is nashua. we want to head out live to meteorologist hayley lapoint. she continues our storm watch team coverage from nashua. good afternoon, hayley. how is it looking out there? hayley: good afternoon, kevin. the roads are getting better but it is kind of this globby snow.

when i was in the station as this cookie dough consistency. here in a nashua been having these ice crystals, and that forms when you have a layer of atmosphere above our heads for snow. you get this transitioning as through this warmer air mass. and then it gets to the ground re-freezes again. looks like down here in a nashua we have a good intro to of this wet snow and the people have been taking their time on the roadways. we got this video earlier. i like people are just taking the time and heating the warnings and it is good this is a holiday week. a lot less people on the roads. in terms of how much of snow we have down here in nashville, and ensure to and you can still see the grass coming through. not a heavy dumping of snow but regardless of the amount, the

precipitation going on. kevin, we will be back in a couple minutes with more on the forecast. i am a meteorologist hayley lapoint, live international, -- live in nashua, wmur news 9. sean: stay warm out there. the snow is keeping state police very busy. lieutenant jerry maslan joins us live on the phone. give us an idea of how busy you have been over the last six hours. lt. maslan: since this morning we have covered over 100 vehicles off the road in view crashes. right now manchester south on a 93 north and south lanes are very busy. a lot of vehicles off the road in that area. sean: any major accidents are mostly just minor slip ups? lt. maslan: a lot of minor crashes, no serious injuries, fortunately, for everyone. sean: are you getting a sense of how slippery the roadways are? lt. maslan: with the changes now, things are getting slippery

we are dealing with the jackknifed tractor-trailer on interstate 89 just south of exit six. extreme caution there. things are getting slippery and as we get ready for the evening anticipate getting busier. before. are you getting a sense that for today? lt. maslan: i would like to hope that it does this is the first storm come that is why we are as s listening, you know? going slow, patient, give yourself a lot of extra time. please remember to move over when you see emergency lights. sean: all right, thank you very much. doubt. the icy conditions made for a slow rush hour commute this morning. our amy coveno has been monitoring the conditions in

she joins us live with the conditions. amy: good afternoon. i' m a popsicle out here. it is still a mess out here. we were out on the roads an hour ago and we are surprised how snow-covered they still are. it is heavy, wet snow, and it is testing rusty winter driving skills. yay, you run out! >> -- got out. >> yes, finally. amy: he has lived in new hampshire years and has last winter in his repertoire. >> stuck with the four-wheel-drive and new tires, same car, same everything. you never know. amy: the wintry mix arrived right on schedule, pelting the morning commute. snow, bringing drivers behind the dot trucks on 93 southbound

state police say they responded to dozens of spin outs and crashes during a morning commute. >> i like that it is snowing because we can play in it but i didn' t like the right. amy: the family break the back roads to get to the diner for a late breakfast. >> it is a little slippery could you could tell they were plowing the more primary roads in town but the back roads were tough. but we did well. we went through a couple of small snowbanks but we are here. amy: no rest for plow drivers big and small, who have been dropping since yesterday for the so-called white gold to fall. >> oh, yeah, the roads are a mess. amy: ricky has been added since 3:00 a.m. and has no idea when he will see his bed again. how long will you go today? >> i don' t know, to it is done, cleaned up, everything.

amy: so all in all, the timing is good for the great winter driving dresser resulted most of the schools are still close for the holiday break and while this is not the stuff of snowmaking material, thus letting should be good later on this afternoon. back to you. sean: staying positive there. the state speed limit on state highways have been reduced to 45 miles per hour. there are some things to keep in mind while on the roadways. first, allow plenty of time to get to your destination, and drive cautiously, obviously. remember, bridges freeze faster than the rest of the road, so they could be icy when the rest t use cruise control in storms. if you can, stay home. the snow and ice isn' it' s creating delays in the sky as well. there are a handful of delays manchester-boston regional airport. be sure to check with your airline before heading out the door. you can see a lot of delayed flights there.

just a little snow, further north, it' s a different story. that' s where we find wmur' s suzanne roantree. she' s live in plymouth with the conditions there. what' s it like out there, suzanne? suzanne: well, from the hooksett tolls north will into the lakes region, this has been easier to deal with than the southern part of the state come even as the snow continues to accumulate here in plymouth. north of concord in 93, the driving conditions improved but still the roads are snowing and slick with speeds under highway still at 45 miles per hour all over the state. snow plows are out in force. six inches of snow has fallen good schools are closed, most businesses are open, so the scraping of ice off the cars and shoveling off the walkways has begun. >> it is very wet, very heavy. just cold out here. i didn' t expect it would be this much, honestly.

suzanne: from plymouth north, the area of the state with a high snow totals, the snow continues to fall. it should wrap up later this afternoon. live in plymouth, suzanne rowntree, wmur news 9. sean: as the snow piles up we want to see what' s happening in your area. sarah sent us this photo of her mom removing snow from her car while wearing shorts in nottingham this morning. hardy new englanders right there. caitlin just couldn' t wait to use her newsletter from santa. ice shot there. if it' s safe to do so, upload your winter weather pictures and video to u local, or leave us a comment on our facebook page. and remember, you can track this storm on wmur.com or with our storm watch weather app. you will find hour by hour forecasts a live wire with , updates and a complete list of , closings and delays. next, team coverage of the first

we will look at the conditions in rochester. plus come here is a live look at hour where the snow continues to fall. next several hours and even into the evening as we look at a heavy first, while the mixture continues in southern areas. we will tell you how the rest of the day plays out. announcer: one candidate tough enough to take on the bully... jeb bush: donald, you're not

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sean: welcome back to our storm watch coverage this noon. from the lakes region to the seacoast the first covering of snow for the season. back to reality. right, kevin? kevin: 11.5 degrees above normal, easily the mildest of december on record. it has been' s leading a good part of the morning but even to wet snow there. the back-and-forth continuing to go for the central and southern areas of the state. in the north country we are expecting that snow could to continue up there as we work our way through the afternoon and into this evening. we will talk about the temperatures, which remained below freezing, and what that means for the evening commute in

sean: it' s more ice and rain than snow on the seacoast. the roads have been slick this morning and there were several accidents this morning on the spaulding turnpike. wmur' s jennifer crompton joins us live with her view of this storm from rochester. good afternoon, jennifer. jennifer: good afternoon, sean. rochester has about three or four inches of snow. it is mixed with this fine sleet that is coming down right now. in portsmouth they did have the rain that was mentioned a few moments ago. the driving has been really messy. behind me is the spaulding turnpike. our experience was that drivers are taking their time, taking it slow. nonetheless, there have been lots of slipping and sliding accidents, not just here, but on roads throughout the seacoast. in internment, 4 part -- in durh cars off the road. am, 4 another into a telephone pole.

is taxing shovelers and snowblowers alike. we heard one call in another town close to the coast for a man who had collapsed in his driveway. emergency responders are understandably busy. rochester fire reported their first call at 3:00 a.m. many more once the commute started. rochester fire was telling us that those calls that came in were piled upon each other, mixed with the calls they generally get for fire alarms, the response time is down. there were many people to take it easy, take it slow. again, broken record, but we hear it whenever we have the storms -- if you don' t have to go out, don' t, and if you do, take it slow.

sean: thank you very a lot of shoveling out there. kevin: we are well below freezing. anything out there is continue to re-freeze upon impact and we will talk about this and where we had from your through the overnight stretch. sean: plus, now time for our u local hot shot. stephanie sent us this beautiful look at the peaceful morning in littleton. very nice perspective of the storm. don' t forget, if you are hanging out at home, submit your pictures and video, and join the thousands of u local members by

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>> now, meteorologist kevin skarupa with you are storm watch 9 forecast. kevin: we have seen in upwards of six-plus inches of snow already. for the central and southern areas, we have gone back-and-forth between snow and sleet, and the sleet has dampened down the accumulation overnight hours. still impressive snowfall totals from five to seven inches of snow, a lot of that in central

at the same time have had the opportunity for that to remain mostly snow. how about ski country? anywhere from five to nine inches and still snowing heavily. you can see the heavier version of the system continues to move to our east, except in the north country, where it comes down at a pretty good clip. out to the west, or precipitation, but a much lighter version. a little more scattered and spotty out there. the back-and-forth continues for the southern areas of the state great in the north, several additional inches of chelation. a few spots could be over 8, 9, possibly 10 inches of snow out of this. the big theme for the remainder of the afternoon and evening is a lot of spots, not above the freezing mark. matter of fact, well below the freezing mark. we will continue to see the effects on the area roadways. one of the spots i could be a big trouble spot later on today is nashua. want to send it out to hayley lapoint with conditions there. hayley: hi, kevin.

that is what we have got going on now. that is contacting any snow cooking nation we had earlier. we are talking maybe an inch or two of accumulation but now it is getting weighted down by the ice crystals that come down very heavy. here in nashua, slick road conditions, and expecting it to kind of waiver but between the ice and snow crystals. back to you. kevin: a little bit spotty but there with temperatures below the freezing mark. one last push of the light snow traveling south later on this evening and then we are left with freezing puzzle overnight around tomorrow. temperatures should be about the freezing mark. the secondary roads and the untreated services will have a chance to melt off a little bit. things quiet down dramatically for new year' s eve and beyond

the system, and it hasn' t even completely happened yet, is up north, where this continues all the way through the afternoon and into the evening. the general 4 to eight inches of cooking relation -- maybe an additional inch there. farther south, a couple of epping, media etc., anywhere we have been seeing a lot of the accumulation in the evening and overnight hours damped down by the sleet we have had falling and the back-and-forth continues so no appreciable additional accumulation. continuing on with the icing we have out there. pockets of freezing rain to the shoreline. there is the extended forecast. temperatures will start to improve and each day we should be above freezing in a lot of areas. it should help with the sidewalks and those sorts of places. from there, a little bit of warm-up, then cooling off again with another batch of cold for

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a busy day of townhall' s. john kasich plans to be in nashua and keene. hillary clinton has town halls planned in portsmouth and berlin. but republican jeb bush has postponed his plan event in peterborough. his flight was grounded due to weather. these things happen. kevin: slick spots and a lot of the commission for southern areas -- it is farther north where we could see several additional inches of snow in north country. sean: ski trails a loving it. kevin will be back half an hour from now.